# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 192

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**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3822 "2024-10-10T13:34:01Z")

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When I was little, we lived in South Florida. In first grade, there was what my father described as a “squall.” He said there was twenty-four inches of rain in just a couple of hours. I remember him driving us to school in flooded streets. I was sitting in the back seat of the Karmann-Ghia, watching water seep through the door. My brother and I were two of like ten kids who made it to school.

I grew up in Raleigh. We’ve had hurricanes. I moved a friend’s house during Bonnie (It was a tropical storm at that point.) and sat through an NC State football game during Bertha(?). Fran and Floyd were memorable. I lived on Dix Hill, across from the hospital, during Fran. It effectively became an island for a couple of hours. Floyd didn’t affect me too much, but my father’s dog club assisted some sherriffs’ offices Down East, marking homes where the dogs detected a possible dead body - 95% were rotting meat.

I was working an outdoor show at Raleigh Little Theater. During a dress rehearsal a major thunderstorm rolled in. I was trapped in a porta-potty while one inch hail battered down. It was a bit loud in there.

I don’t have an accent. I sound just like everyone else who comes from North Carolina. 😃

The furthest north I’ve been is Dunblane, Scotland. The furthest south I’ve been is Phillips Island, Victoria, Australia.

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3823 "2024-10-10T14:26:10Z")

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I forgot about ice storms; I’ve been in a number of them, though only in one major one. I went back to vote that and also hailstorm, though I haven’t been in one that caused more than minor damage (did get a lot of pockmarked strawberries one year, though) – and discovered that my earlier vote seemed to have disappeared. So I voted all over again.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3824 "2024-10-10T14:54:01Z")

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You’re me (May Ghu have mercy!). Been a little north of Fairbanks. Been south to Cabo. All my overseas travel has been to Europe, so no help there. Australia someday!

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3825 "2024-10-10T14:57:05Z")

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The furthest north I’ve been is one of Iceland, Finland, or st. Petersburg. They were all the same carrier in the poll. The farthest south was probably South Africa, unless Australia is further south than i realize. I voted North of 60 and South of 30.

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3826 "2024-10-10T15:36:35Z")

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North to Reykjavik, south to Santiago.

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**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3827 "2024-10-10T15:44:42Z")

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My FIL had to visit a client in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) Alaska a couple of years ago at 71ºN

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3828 "2024-10-10T16:07:31Z")

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I’ve been Nordkapp, Norway, a bit north of 71ºN. That’s the second northernmost point in mainland Europe, and the northernmost point that one can actually drive to.

South would be Melbourne, Australia, somewhere around 37ºS.

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**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3829 "2024-10-10T17:42:03Z")

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I am not sure how to answer the weather events. In the UK we get Yellow, Amber and weather warnings. Yellow are pretty much ignored, Amber are only travel if essential and Red are basically stay at home unless it is an emergency. I have only once had a red warning (for flooding) but I didn’t really have to anything just not do something, but the same could be said for amber if I delayed going shopping until it was over, these happen where I am a couple of times a year for uasually for snow, flooding or wind.

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**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3830 "2024-10-10T18:00:02Z")

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North, Karasuuanto Finland (68.4 degrees), Antarctic Penninsular (about 65 degrees)

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**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3831 "2024-10-10T18:04:25Z")

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Fairbanks, Alaska ~64N.  
Punta Arenas, Chile ~-53S.  
Both in the same year - 2022.

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3832 "2024-10-10T22:11:27Z")

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Man, now I feel like I haven’t been anywhere.

Furthest north: Fort William in Scotland  
Furthest south: Miami (I had to doublecheck, but the Canary Islands are a bit further north)

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3833 "2024-10-11T00:10:44Z")

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Both my parents were born in Ohio and moved to California. Interestingly, my dad, who moved when he was 6, had the strongest Midwesternisms. Like warsh for wash and greazy for greasy. I hated the way that sounded and changed my pronunciation when I was pretty little (8 or 9?). My mom left Ohio in her 20s and was the daughter of immigrants. She felt a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment and didn’t speak with any kind of accent that I could recognize.

I’ve been through earthquakes you couldn’t even feel through 7.0-ish ones. In high school, we once had hail the size of jujubes.

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**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3834 "2024-10-11T01:10:38Z")

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My parents had a picture of me and my brother on either side of the Greenwich meridian

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3835 "2024-10-11T03:21:10Z")

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That was neat I bet. There’s a place in the states where four states meet. If you can play Twister and spread out you can be in four states at once.

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3836 "2024-10-11T03:28:55Z")

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We have a picture of me, taken during our honeymoon, at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, straddling a sign demarking the Continental Divide. My wife put it in a photo album, with the caption, “If we cut kenobi in two, his two halves would roll towards different oceans.” 😉

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3837 "2024-10-11T15:20:14Z")

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A Great Circle route from LAX - LHR doesn’t get far enough north to hit the Arctic Circle, so I only have the Greenwich Meridian. Which I, too have straddled in Greenwich.

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**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3838 "2024-10-11T15:41:47Z")

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I spent a not unpleasant couple of hours at the airport in Reykiavik Iceland at 64 N.

Never been to the Southern Hemisphere. Closest was Sekondi Ghana at 4 N, where I also spent a couple of pleasant hours, this time waiting for a train.

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3839 "2024-10-11T15:44:27Z")

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Re: Tenacious D, I voted “They are just OK,” which I guess is the _closest_ choice. But I don’t mean it as a critical assessment of their music or talent.

I appreciate what they do; I just never really got into them.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3840 "2024-10-11T15:53:33Z")

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The great circle route from Boston to Tokyo does cross the artic circle, but i think the plane diverges a little from the great circle to avoid flying over Siberia. I think that’s the northernmost route I’ve taken, and from the map on the plane, i think we kinda flew the great circle and then hooked around Siberia. New York to Tokyo is further south yet, and also avoids Russian airspace, and I think that flight probably didn’t cross the Arctic circle. So i think i flew across the Arctic circle, but I’m not certain.

I was surprised that flying back from Japan to the northeast we didn’t follow the great circle, but pretty much stuck to a latitude line. I assume the flight took advantage of trade winds.

Hmm, a lot of Greenland is north of the Arctic circle, and I’ve definitely flown over big expanses of Greenland’s ice sheet. That might have been just south of the Arctic circle, but it might have been north of it. So i may have clipped that in both directions.

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**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/3841 "2024-10-11T16:06:04Z")

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After I posted I realised a lot of people wont know the great circle routes crossing the arctic circle. I was really wanting to nly count crossing by plane if you didn’t cross it again before landing but that wasn’t what I asked and not going to ask an almost identical question again.

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